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Just anecdotally, we went out to eat at a place we hadn't been to since before the pandemic. Their prices have doubled. We spent $50 on lunch.
by lost_soul 5y ago
Just anecdotally, we went out to eat at a place we hadn't been to since before the pandemic. Their prices have doubled. We spent $50 on lunch.
- mnholt 5y agoSeeing the same things here, lunch is $25+ a person at casual sit down places. Some have even done away with lunch menus so you’re left with lunch portions for dinner prices.
- break_the_bank 5y agoThis has to be a major city right?
- mnholt 5y agoDayton, Ohio. Depends on your definition of major.
- ipaddr 5y agoFeels like places trying to make up for any covid losses over the last few years.
- etrautmann 5y agoYeah I’m seeing $20 sandwiches in NYC now.
- cookiengineer 5y agoJust last week I've spent 20 bucks for 4 balls of ice cream. It felt like being mugged...
- lupire 5y agoWho forced you to buy the ice cream?
- itake 5y agoIf they wanted to buy ice cream and that was the price, then they had to pay it or they wouldn’t get ice cream. Are you saying there is a lower cost ice cream store across the street?
- pc86 5y agoThey're saying that it's pretty silly to compare buying ice cream to being mugged. If it's too expensive, don't buy the ice cream. The price of ice cream isn't an invariant, if nobody buys it the price will decrease. If nobody has a problem paying $5/scoop for ice cream, that's what the price is going to be.
- thereare5lights 5y agoThere's nothing silly about it. It's just a metaphor. It's more incredulous that people have a problem with figurative speech like this than the comparison itself.
- bally0241 5y agoIts called hyperbole. Seriously HN can be so pedantic sometimes.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- fowkswe 5y ago$20 is the new five
- vba616 5y agoI heard the phrase "Yuppie food stamps" meaning ATM-dispensed $20s, a long time ago, and didn't people start using the term "Yuppie" in the 80s?
- jimmaswell 5y agoSounds like typical NYC to me, as someone from the rest of the state. Every time I've eaten in NYC it's been mediocre and expensive.
- etrautmann 5y agoTo be fair, there's a lot of incredible food here too...
- nerdponx 5y agoIs there such a thing in economics as "pent-up inflation"? As in, the economy keeps rolling along with "shrinkflation"-like phenomena absorbing as much of the increase in inputs as possible, until it passes a tipping point (in this case propelled by Covid-related adjustments) and all of a sudden prices shoot up. It would be interesting to see if there's any literature on this phenomenon.
- _huayra_ 5y agoI wish I knew if there was any lit on this, but I think the same way. When the cost to own a given size house is double the cost to rent that house (in some VHCOL places like Seattle that is true at the moment), eventually people are just gonna opt out and rent. Anecdotally, I've basically opted out of any sort of food that I don't prepare myself. Although not immune, Costco has avoided the same level of inflation as other grocery stores and especially restaurants, so I just shop there and save money because the prices for prepared food has just gone through the roof.
- 88913527 5y agoBy shopping weekly ads and couponing, and being more willing to make meals from whatever is on sale (I made my first ever pot roast last week, and it was divine) -- I've cut my food budget by 50%. Granted, I wasn't being that selective before: I used to buy things like $8.99/lb 'air chilled' chicken breasts, and now I'm buying $1.99/lb value packs. I get no complaints at the dinner table, so I'm unsure what I was paying for before. Between that and limiting meals out, I'm saving more than I thought I would. Grocery stores are beginning to level-up their "price optimization" strategies (car insurance companies have been doing it for much longer [0]): people who work for it pay less. A box of cereal is $3.99 on the shelf; with club card and digital coupon it's $1.99. That's one item down 50%. You scale that methodology to your entire shopping trip, and your dollars go way further. [0]: https://www.npr.org/2015/05/08/403598235/being-a-loyal-auto-insurance-customer-can-cost-you https://www.npr.org/2015/05/08/403598235/being-a-loyal-auto-...
- bushbaba 5y ago
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- rsanheim 5y agoThat was probably closer to the real price if your lunch. We’ve had a glut of restaurants all up and down the “star level” here in Madison, WI. I think that is true in many cities. When you account for real wages and costs, many of those places shouldn’t and wont survive over the next few years. We don’t need 6 dollar burritos delivered for 15, and we don’t need five places found farm to table for 30 bucks a plate. If that means service and cooks and dishwashers have to work three jobs in that world, to hell with it.
- pc86 5y agoMilwaukee area checking in! Has Madison seen an increase in restaurants compared to a couple years ago? I've only been here a year but in the last place I lived, almost everything seemed to shut down during COVID but as things eased up new places opened up to about 120% of the old capacity - the end result being everything seemed to have reduced hours because they couldn't get enough business to get enough staff. From what I've heard from friends it hasn't gotten any better. Plenty of restaurants but a lot of them are only open 2-3 days a week so you end up with servers et. al. having 2-3 part time jobs.
- lamontcg 5y agoWe may finally be adjusting to the fact that it isn't reasonable for the average household to be paying someone else to make their food most days.
- jshen 5y agoI don’t think this is the case at all. Specialization provides tremendous value, and making things in bulk is far more environmentally friendly than everyone making things individually.
- chillacy 5y agoEating out is strangely expensive in most places in the US, compared to many parts of Asia at least. I'm not sure why. I considered density as a factor but if anything cities cost more in the US.
- jimmaswell 5y agoEverything's been normal for me, or I just haven't noticed.
- stjohnswarts 5y agoprices for some food items have definitely doubled and restaurant sure haven't been shy about raising prices. My favorite chinese place has gone up 70% in a year. So much that I only go there once a month tops.
- irrational 5y agoSame. This past week I went to a place where they are charging $18 for a chicken sandwich that used to be $8-9. I couldn’t believe it.
- akomtu 5y agoDo they expect a 20% tip on top of it?